Herein, I whine about music
I love war horse pieces like Carmen, but I'm thoroughly fed up with seeing them performed on ice. Very few skaters (or their choreographers) give such music the revitalization that it needs. One of the great things to me about Sarah Hughes's SLC long program was the fact that the music was so unusual: Daphnis and Chloe, if I recall correctly. The team of Kwan and Lori Nichol were wonderful about finding fresh music to interpret. After parting with Nichol and Carroll, Kwan used a few too many perennial classical hits for me, though she was still an exquisite skater. She could turn anything into a gem for me, but sigh, why Tosca?
Some months ago, there was a thread on this forum where people suggested music for skating routines, and there were some splendid ideas. I wish today's skaters and choreographers were as adventurous as you all are. Carmen is a great French opera, but what about Thais or Cendrillon, or Lakme or The Pearl Fishers? What about Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz, or his Romeo et Juliette? What about Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches or other Russian music? And then there's chamber music, which Kwan used to such gorgeous advantage in her Black Swan routine (Dvorak's Dumky Trio). One of my favorite routines, and the music definitely inspired a new level of artistry in the skaters involved, was that great baroque march by Lully that Denkova and Staviski used in 2003 or so. Instead, we get Carmen and the Nutcracker. Ah, well.
I love war horse pieces like Carmen, but I'm thoroughly fed up with seeing them performed on ice. Very few skaters (or their choreographers) give such music the revitalization that it needs. One of the great things to me about Sarah Hughes's SLC long program was the fact that the music was so unusual: Daphnis and Chloe, if I recall correctly. The team of Kwan and Lori Nichol were wonderful about finding fresh music to interpret. After parting with Nichol and Carroll, Kwan used a few too many perennial classical hits for me, though she was still an exquisite skater. She could turn anything into a gem for me, but sigh, why Tosca?
Some months ago, there was a thread on this forum where people suggested music for skating routines, and there were some splendid ideas. I wish today's skaters and choreographers were as adventurous as you all are. Carmen is a great French opera, but what about Thais or Cendrillon, or Lakme or The Pearl Fishers? What about Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz, or his Romeo et Juliette? What about Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches or other Russian music? And then there's chamber music, which Kwan used to such gorgeous advantage in her Black Swan routine (Dvorak's Dumky Trio). One of my favorite routines, and the music definitely inspired a new level of artistry in the skaters involved, was that great baroque march by Lully that Denkova and Staviski used in 2003 or so. Instead, we get Carmen and the Nutcracker. Ah, well.
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